As long has he hasn't turned into a total Teabagger dipsh*t in his golden years.

He almost certainly has (read the testimonials in this thread). I meet lots of people of his generation, and they generally think I'm a nice young man, and we get along fine. But you don't ever, ever want the subject to turn towards politics, because then you find out what awful things some of these nice old folks believe. You just nod and smile politely, and take the first opportunity that comes along to steer the subject to something else.

My great uncle is a WW-2 vet, and I respect him for that. But he went off the deep end after 9/11, and I haven't spoken to him in about eight years.

It's actually pretty sad when think about it, someone who had a moment and has been chasing that glory ever since, even though his time has passed him by. I mean, good job for what you did Chuck, but you're essentially the Test Pilot version of "The Buggles."

Mikey1969:I think it's awesome that they had to postpone the jump so that it happened on this date, it couldn't have worked out better. These guys are both such big studs that they make all other studs look like pu**ies.

Did the faller really go supersonic? I think he fell faster than the speed of sound at sea level, but he was always subsonic in the air which he was falling through. He'd have to go a lot faster at 100,000 feet of altitude to go supersonic.

WelldeadLink:Mikey1969: I think it's awesome that they had to postpone the jump so that it happened on this date, it couldn't have worked out better. These guys are both such big studs that they make all other studs look like pu**ies.

Did the faller really go supersonic? I think he fell faster than the speed of sound at sea level, but he was always subsonic in the air which he was falling through. He'd have to go a lot faster at 100,000 feet of altitude to go supersonic.

The speed of sound is lower as the air gets thinner, so yes, he did break the sound barrier.From the Stratos website:

"Breaking the speed of sound refers to catching up with - and surpassing - the speed at which sound waves are produced in the air. The speed of sound is affected by temperature: where the air is colder, sound travels more slowly. At about 100,000 feet above sea level, Felix Baumgartner will need to accelerate to about 690 miles per hour to match the speed of sound, known as Mach 1. Then if he continues to accelerate and surpasses the speed of sound, he'll be "supersonic."

Now I'd be -really- impressed if something could break the sound barrier in water (which is even faster...4871 fps or 3321 MPH in water that is roughly room temperature)

WelldeadLink:Mikey1969: I think it's awesome that they had to postpone the jump so that it happened on this date, it couldn't have worked out better. These guys are both such big studs that they make all other studs look like pu**ies.

Did the faller really go supersonic? I think he fell faster than the speed of sound at sea level, but he was always subsonic in the air which he was falling through. He'd have to go a lot faster at 100,000 feet of altitude to go supersonic.

I'm a former NASA parachute engineer so I'm really getting a kick out of........

You need to go learn something. Speed of sound is lower up there. He was easily supersonic. No tricks.

/Here you go. This is accurate: http://www.redbullstratos.com/science/speed-of-sound/

pudding7:Can you imagine how cool that was for the pilot? Probably 28 years old, here he gets to take Chuck farking Yeager for a ride. Hot damn.

Actually, the pilot was more than likely groaning that he drew the short straw and had to have yeager in the back seat. Yeager is a complete dooshnozzle and not at all respected within the fighter community.

WelldeadLink:Mikey1969: I think it's awesome that they had to postpone the jump so that it happened on this date, it couldn't have worked out better. These guys are both such big studs that they make all other studs look like pu**ies.

Did the faller really go supersonic? I think he fell faster than the speed of sound at sea level, but he was always subsonic in the air which he was falling through. He'd have to go a lot faster at 100,000 feet of altitude to go supersonic.

Maxor:Kind of cool that he did that, amazed that they didn't use a T-38 for the commemoration today.1. Yeager has always been a fan of that plane (has stated on a couple of occasions publicly it was his favorite.

Actually, it was the F-20 he was enamored of.Basically a T-38/F-5 body, but with an F-16 engine.

Red Shirt Blues:RocketRay: I know a few people who have met him and unfortunately he's a grade A sexist douchebag. After one of these PR sound barrier anniversary flights a female lieutenant saluted and told him she'd show him to the officer's club. He barked at another officer to get him a "real lieutenant" to show him the way.

He's not really sexist. He is a mega a$$hole to everyone. His Dbaggery is legendary along the airshow circuit. He made horrible comments when Scott Crossfield died. In his biography he went out of his way to crap on Crossfield and Neil Armstrong. Also embellishing events of when he crossed paths with them. He also ran a plane off the side of a runway trying to land a few years ago.

there are plenty of American aviation heroes for you and your kids to choose from. the following should probably not be on it::

Chuck YeagerJohn GlennRandy Duke CunninghamCharles Lindbergh

all were men of very deep personal failings after their aviation heroics were over. Of these, Yeager's is probably the least bad (he's basically an egomaniacal, greedy d-bag with a junior high school -equivalent education), but still.

Also, I recall reading in a biography of his that he was the only person to have confirmed kills from the air in WW2, Korea, and Nam.

[www.mobygames.com image 320x200]

"Good thing this is just a simulator!"

\198x, CGA, get offa my lawn

Oh God, I remember the time I poured into all the variants of that game. There was this one plane, I think was the X-29 (can't remember) that would develop a vicious back-and-forth longitudinal waggle if you took too long to accelerate through Mach 1.1 or tried to maintain that speed. Gave me nightmares.

cptjeff:Repo Man: My great uncle is a WW-2 vet, and I respect him for that. But he went off the deep end after 9/11, and I haven't spoken to him in about eight years.

My WWII vet uncle developed a speech disability a few months before 9/11. He couldn't pronounce the h in Ashcroft right for some reason, it turned into an s.

Not all old WWII vets have turned into teabaggers.

No, not all. There are still people alive who lived through the thirties, and remember the WPA, and fondly remember the Roosevelt administration. But you have to admit, they are more the exception than the rule. I go to lots of people's homes with my job, and nine times out of ten, if the hair is gray, the television is tuned to Fox news.

As long has he hasn't turned into a total Teabagger dipsh*t in his golden years.

He almost certainly has (read the testimonials in this thread). I meet lots of people of his generation, and they generally think I'm a nice young man, and we get along fine. But you don't ever, ever want the subject to turn towards politics, because then you find out what awful things some of these nice old folks believe. You just nod and smile politely, and take the first opportunity that comes along to steer the subject to something else.

My great uncle is a WW-2 vet, and I respect him for that. But he went off the deep end after 9/11, and I haven't spoken to him in about eight years.

So you took off your hat and said 'Imagine that, me, working for you!'

Red Shirt Blues:RocketRay: I know a few people who have met him and unfortunately he's a grade A sexist douchebag. After one of these PR sound barrier anniversary flights a female lieutenant saluted and told him she'd show him to the officer's club. He barked at another officer to get him a "real lieutenant" to show him the way.

He's not really sexist. He is a mega a$$hole to everyone. His Dbaggery is legendary along the airshow circuit. He made horrible comments when Scott Crossfield died. In his biography he went out of his way to crap on Crossfield and Neil Armstrong. Also embellishing events of when he crossed paths with them. He also ran a plane off the side of a runway trying to land a few years ago.

I met Scott Crossfield back in the mid 80's and he seemed like an OK guy. Didn't say anything too bad about Yeager, but you could tell he was not a fan. He told a self deprecating story about running the F-100 into a hanger wall and finished it with 'Yeager broke the sonic wall, I broke the hanger wall".

"It was the morning after the initial Pakistani strike that Yeager began to take the war with India personally. On the eve of their attack, the Pakistanis had been prudent enough to evacuate their planes from airfields close to the Indian border and move them back into the hinterlands. But no one thought to warn General Yeager. Thus when an Indian fighter pilot swept low over Islamabad airport in India's first retaliatory strike, he could see only two small planes on the ground. Dodging antiaircraft fire, he blasted both to smithereens with 20-millimeter (sic) canon fire. One was Yeager's Beechcraft. The other was a plane used by United Nations forces to supply the patrols that monitored the ceasefire in Kashmir."

"I never found out how the UN reacted to the destruction of its plane, but Yeager's response was anything but dispassionate. He raged to his cowering colleagues at a staff meeting. His voice resounding through the embassy, he proclaimed that the Indian pilot not only knew exactly what he was doing but had been specifically instructed by Indira Gandhi to blast Yeager's plane. In his book he later said that it was the Indian way of giving Uncle Sam "the finger" ".

I got to meet Gen. Yeager in 2005. Came into my base to get a prescription filled and I was working the front desk. I looked at his ID card and thought the name looked really familiar and about 2 seconds later I got this overwhelmingly giddy feeling. Shook his hand, told him it was an honor meeting him. Super nice guy, signed a few autographs, grabbed his meds, and was gone.

/csb I know//don't care. got to meet the man, the legend.//slashies come in threes.

Live in Lincoln County WV where he grew up and the stories people tell about him around here are generally variants of the afore-mentioned buttwipery/dbag w/balls of iron anecdotes. /am sure Felix B also has a good set of swingers //and as a space nerd from way back this weekend has been like Christmas AM for me